Feeler mechanism for looms



Sept. 2

E. s. STIMPSON FEELER' MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Nov. 12

1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 9 I D, ATTORNEY,

plete exhaustion.

Patented Sept.'2, 1924.

' UN'TED STATES PATENT QFFIE EDWARD S. STIMPSON, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR '10 .DRAPER COB IO'RATHDN, OF-HO1EDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 011 IllLKIIIN 'J.v

FEELEIB MECHANISM ,LQOMS. 7

A lication filed-November 12, 1923. Serial no. 674,189i

To all whom it may concern):

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. Srrsrrson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hopedale, in thecounty of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Feeler Mechanisms for Looms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying crawings, is a specification like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to feeler mecha nisms for looms, whereby the filling is replenished from time to time priorto com.-

Various kindsof feelerv mechanisms have heretofore been suggested for the purpose of either stopping the loom or replenishing the filling when the filling in the shuttle has reached 'a degree of substantial exhaustion, and it is now the common practice to provide the feelei' mechanism with a feeler which enters the shuttle on each detecting beat and contacts with the filling, and when the filling becomes substantially exhausted the feeler detects this condition and sets in operation a train of mechanism for'replenisliing the filling. i

This constantl recurringcontact of the feeler with the fi ling on each detecting beat is liable to injure the. filling, especially" when the filling is of fine count or is formed of material that is readily damaged. Since the function of the feeler is to'call for a change .offilling when that in the shuttlehas hecome substantially exhausted it is" suflicient if the feeler performs its feeling function when the filling has approached the danger point, and initiates re lenishment of filling when that in the shutt e has become substantially exhausted.

' 7 Therefore,'one of the objects of the} presentlinvention is to provide a feeler mcluinism for looms with means for holding the feeler in, a retracted or inoperative position with respect to the filling for periods of time and for rendering the feeler operative to engage the'filling only at intervals, until detects a near approach to' substantial e2;- liaustion of the filling, whereupon the feelermay remain o )erative and upon detection of substantial ex austionoffilling, set in operation a train of mechanism to replenish the filling. f

In carrying out thiso'bject of the invention, the feeler upon a detecting beat enters the shuttle to engage the filling therein, and if a working supply of filling is present the feeler is pushed forward as the lay beats'up,

and means is provided for 'e'ngaging the feele-r when it is pushed forward and for holding the feelerin the retracted position for a period of time.

When the feeler is in its retracted position i it is desirable thatthe same be held in a position in which itwill be entirely out of en'- gagenient of the filling on a detecting beat, and an important feature of'the present invention therefore resides in simple means for imparting an additional frontward movement to the feeler tohold the same in a frontward position beyond that to which it is pushed by a working supply of filling on a detecting beat, whereby the feeler isv held'entirely out of reach of the filling.

Another feature of the invention resides in novel means for automatically releasing the feeler after it has beenheld inactive for a period of time, and still another feature y of the invention. resides in means for accurately adjusting the'feeler' holding means to the desired position. I

Other features of the invention. and novel combination of parts in addition to the above illustrate one good practical form thereof. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspect ve view of one side of I the loo-m-equip'ped'with a feeler mechanism embodying the present invention;*

F 'g.2 is an enlarged perspective view of the feeler mechanism showing the feelerheld in 'itsfretracted position;

liiggis a end view of Fig, 2 withlparts tion in the construction of the detent for "1 00 holding the feel'er in the inoperative position;

will-be "hereinafter described in connection with the accompany ng drawings -whic h Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through the bracketo'f 5; y

I Fig. 7 IS an enlarged sideview of tlle tent releasing meansy The present invention will be described in connection with a feeler mechanism in which the feeler of the inclined type andfeiite'rs for the usual transverse or rock shaft '5 which is operatively in control of the replenishing mechanism. It has not been deemed necessary to show and describe the details of the replenishing mechanism .because such mechanism may be of any of the well-known types now in common use and the details thereof form no part of the present invention. v.

Secured to the rock shaft 5 and extending .upwardly therefrom is the arm .6 to which is pivotally connected at 7 a rearwardly extending arm 8, therear end portion of which is adapted to be engaged at times with an operating member 9 which may be formed as part of or associated with the cam follower. In the present instance, the arm 8 has pivotally connected to it at 10a rearwardly extending end portion 11 which is. normally out of the path of movement of the operating member 9, and connected to the part 11 is a lug 12 overlying the horizontal arm 13 of a bell crank lever pivoted at 14 to a support 15 secured at 16 to the loom frame. The downwardly extending arm 17 of the bell crank lever is connected to a transmitter 18 which is operatively connected at its other end to a slide 19 under the control of the feeler.

Extending from the loom frame is the shipper stand 20 to which is adjustably connected the feeler stand 21 by means of the bolt or set screw 22, as usual.

The feeler 23, as hereinbefore noted, is shown as of the inclined type and is supported upon the feeler stand 21 for movement towards and from the front of the loom. The feeler 23 passes through the bearings at the rear of the feeler stand and also through an opening in the slide 19 which is guided for lateral movement at theroar of the feeler stand, and frontward of the rear hearing or guide for the slide the feeler is provided with a bridge -or support 24 to which the feeler is secured. Extending frontwardly from the bridge 24 is the feeler stem 25 which passes through the swivel block 26 mounted on the feeler stand by means of a bracket 27, and between the swivel block 26 and the bridge 24 is a spring 28 normally tending to move the feeler towards'its rearward feeling position. The parts so far described may be substantially the same as the similar partsshown and described more fully in the patent to Edward S. Stimpson, No. 1,309,226, dated July 8, 1919, to which reference may behad for further details of feeler mechanism.

The feeler 23 is held retracted by the detent 29 whiclrmay be variously constructed,

but in the embodiment shown is in .the form of a blade extending transversely of the feeler stem 25- and is pivotally mounted upon the bracket 30 by the pivot pin or screw 31.

ed in the socket provided in the enlargement 34 upon the bracket 30, and oneend of'the detent or lever 29 enters a slot formed in the upper portion of the enlargement 34, whereas the opposite end of this detent 0r lever extends through a slot formed in a projection 35 extending frontwardly from the bracket 30 near one end ofthis bracket.

It is desirable thatthe detent supporting bracket 30 be mounted uponthe feeler stand 21 for adjustment toward andfrom the front of the loom relatively to this stand, so that the detent may be adjusted to hold the feeler 23, retracted to different degrees. To this end in the construction shown, the bracket 30 is adjustably secured to the'feeler stand 21 by providing the bracket with a rear wardly extending portion 36 which is slotted as at 37 and may be rigidly'secure d to the feeler stand 21 in the desired position of adjustment by a clamping bolt 38 extending 40 provided in an upwardly extendingportion-of the bracket 30, while the threaded end of this screw. is screwed into a lug 41 formed upon the feeler stand 21. rangement is such that the adjusting nut 39 may be engaged by the fingers and rotated in one direction to move the bracket 30 towardsthe feeler stand androtated in the opposite direction to ad ust the bracket. away from the feeler stand, and after the desired ad justmenthas been obtained, the parts are secured in this position by tightening the clamping bolt 38. i i

The detent supporting bracket 30 should be so adjusted that when the feeler 23, is

pushed frontwardly on a detecting beat by a substantial amount of filling on the filling carrier or bobbin 42, the detent 29 will engage one of the notches 32 and hold the feeler in its retracted position, but if the filling upon thefilling carrier or bobbin has reached a nearly exhausted condition, then The .ar- 1 the extenttov whiclrthe feeler is moved fronts wardly upon a detecting beat should notibe suflicient to engage the detent 29, whereupon the feelerwill remain .free to detect the condition of the filling on each detecting beat until a replenishment of filling is effected by the feels! and the chain of mechanism, controlled thereby. a 1 1 1 .It is'desirable that the detent 29 hold the feeler retracted in an inoperative position during the operation of a predetermined number of picks, say, for example, fifty picks, and then be actuated to release the feeler so that it may feel-the condition of the filling in the shuttle upon one or two detecting beats and then again hold the feeler inits retracted position provideda substantial amount of filling is found to be present in the shuttle. Variousmeans may be provided for releasing the. feeler after it has been held idle a desired length of time, and in the present casethisis accomplished by impartingmovement to the detent from one of the gears commonly provided upon looms to rotate the usual take-up. or sand roll, To this end the projection above mentioned is provided with a vertical hole in which a plunger 43 .is'mounted to engagethe under faceof the detent lever29, the arrangement being such that if the plunger 43 is forced upwardly it will rock theright-hand end of the lever 29 upwardly and depress the opposite or detent end of this lever to thereby releasezthe feeler 23-. .The plunger 43 is actuatedby a. flexible wire 44 mounted ,within the sheath 4:5, one end of which sheath is secured to'the under face of the projection 35, while-the opposite end is secured to a lug 46 provided upon a bracket- '47.- which bracket is adjustably secured to a portion of the loom. frame by a bolt-48. U i v V Slidablymounted within thelug lfi and projecting therefrom-is the plunger .49, and this plunger is actuated 'by a'lever 50 which is pivotally=mounted at 51 upon the bracket 47,- and one face of the lever 50 rests against the outer end of the plunger 5&9." Rocking movementis imparted to-the lever 50 byfa projecting head 52' which may besecured to one of the spokes 53 of the gear 54 and this head engages a projection fir-upon the lever and rocks the lever in a left-hand direction 'aswillbe-clear from Figsil and '7. The amount of rocking movement imparted to the lever 50 is limited by a" pin 56 projecting from the face of the bracket "lTand "which pinlies within the space formed'by the. bifurcatedend of the lever 50.. If desired, the plung'ers 43 and 49 may consist detentr' Theqgean 54 is shown as: one-iof a chain of gear's,-: 5'Z, 58 and 59, which actuate the usual take-up roll.

lt may be desirable not only to I feeler in the .frontmost position to whichiit is pushed by the filling ,upon' a. Idetecting beat, so that it will not strike the'filling and be pushed frontwardly thereby upon each detecting beat, but it may be desirable to impart an additional; frontward movement to-the'feeler so that the same will be heldentirely out of contact with the filling in the shuttle for adesired periodof time. .Means to this end is shown in: the modification shownin Figs. 5and 6, and will now be described.

Thebracket 60 of Fig. .5 for the most part may be v similar to the bracket 30- ofFigs. 1 to 4 inclusive, and may be secured to the feeler stand- 21 in the manner above described. This bracket, however, dilieis from 'ing'qend of thesame is urged upwardly by a spring 63 which may be similar to the spring33 above described. 7

.- The object in"mounting' the'lever 1 that it will swing in a frontwardly inclined plane'is-to-cause the detent to-mo've' frontwardl'y as it enters one of the notches 32 of the feeler stem. Upon referring to Fig. 6- it will be seen thatv the detent'will engage one the position designated by the dotted linen and that when the 'detent is moved completely into engagement with a notch 32,.its'

.upper edge will occupy the position inclicated by'the-line b, with the result thatth'e feeler will have been moved frontwardly the distance between the" lines a-bafter the feeler has been engaged by the detent. I p The feelerengaging portion of the lever Glais bevelled oil or reduced in thicknesses indiof the notches 32 whenits upper edge i'sin cated by 6%, so that thisportion of the lever may-enter'a notch 32 and extend to the bot tom of the notch. In the modification of 2 the T951119 Qf' this construction,-the

shownin Figs. 5. and 6 operates substantially the same as in Figs. 1 to l inclusive-except 2120 feeler'willbe held in a position entirely out oit reach. of the filling upon the succeeding detectingbeats; The detent -61 may be ;actuated to release the feeler 23. by. the mecha- :nism above described and the constructionas that by mounting the detentftooperate in the inclined position shown, it performs-the additional function of: moving-the fccler frontwardly beyond the frontward position to which it is moved by the filling upon'a detecting beat. i The lay 65 may be of usual construction and is provided with a shuttle box 66,the front wall 67 of which is provided with an opening 68 which, when the shuttle 69 is in the shuttle box, registers with a corresponding opening 70 formed in the front wall of the shuttle. The shuttle box and shuttle may be of the construction now commonly used in feeler looms, the essential being that a proper opening be provided for the entrance of the feeler into "the shuttle to feel for the filling when the feeler is active on a detecting beat. i Y

What is claimedis:

1'. An intermittent feeler mechanism for looms, comprising, in combination, a' feeler mounted to detect substantial exhaustion of the filling within a shuttle, a detent for engaging any one of a plurality of teeth on the feeler to hold the feeler in a retracted position and'constructed and arranged to enpushed frontwardly by a working supply of filling and operable to impart an additional frontward movement to the feeler to move it to an inoperative position, and means operable periodically upon the completion of a multiplicity of picks for releasing the feeler from the detent.

2. An intermittent feeler mechanism for looms, comprising, in combination, a feeler mounted to detect substantial exhaustion of the filling within a shuttle, a detent for holding the feeler in a. retracted positionan'd mounted to swing in a'plane extendingtransversely to the axis of said feeler, means for moving the detent into holding engagement with the feeler when the latter 'is moved frontwardlyrby a working supply of filling and operable to impart an additional frontward movement'to the feeler to move the latter to an inoperative position, and means operable periodically upon the completion of a multiplicity of picks for'releasing'the feeler from the detent. v;-

3. An intermittent feeler mechanism rfor looms, comprising, incombination, a feeler mounted to detect substantial exhaustion. of the filling within a shuttle, a detent for holding the feeler in a retracted position and constructed and arranged to engage the feeler when the latteris pushed frontwardly by a working supply of filling and operable toimpart an additional irontward movement to the i'eeler to move it to an inoperative position, :and a flexible controller for imparting movement from alpower driven portion of the loomto the detent to free the feeler periodically. i

=1. An intermittent feeler mechanism for looms,-comprising, in combination, a feelermounted to detect substantial exhaustion .of

the filling within a shuttle, a detent for' holding the feeler in a retracted position and mounted to move in an inclined -direction tow ards'the front oftheloom to engage the feeler when the latter is pushed frontwardly by a working supplyof filling and operable to impart an additional frontward movement to the feeler to move it to an inoperative position, and means operable periodically upon the compl'etionof a multiplicity of picks for releasing the feeler from the deten Y An intermittent fe'eler mechanism for looms comprising, in combination, a feeler 8G the filling within a shuttle, a detent for mounted to detect substantial exhaustion of 6: An intermittent feeler mechanismdor looms COIIlpIISlIL g, in combination, afeeler stand, a fe-eler mounted upon said stand to detect substantial exhaustion of the filling within a shuttle, a detent for holding the feeler in a retracted position when the feeler is pushed frontwardly by a working supply of filling, a bracketadjustably 'se curedto the 'teeler stand to support the detent, an adjusting screw for adjustingthe bracket :toward and from the front of the loom, means for clamping the bracket-to the feeler stand in its adjusted position, and means for periodic-ally actuating the detenttorelease the 'feeler. "1' I 7. A feeler mechanism for looms comprising, in combination, a feeler-stand, a feeler:

mounted upon said stand to detect-substantial exhaustion of the filling ;within-a shuttie, a detent for holding thev feeler in-a retracted position when the feelerris pushed "trontwardly, a bracket iadjusta bly secured-to the Ifeeler. stand to support the detent; an adjusting screw for adjusting thefibracket relative to the feeler stand to move the detent relative/to the feeler, means for clamping the bracket to the feeler stand in its adjusted position, and means operable periodically upon the completion of a multiplicity of picks for releasing the feeler from the detent. 1; i

8. An intermittentfeeler mechanism for looms comprising, incombination a: feeler mounted to detect substantial exhaustion of the filling within a shuttle, a detent for hold;

the "feeler is pushed frontwardlyby a work 'ing the feeler in a retracted position when ver engaging an end of the plunger, a protruding head provided upon a power actuated element of the loom and movable into 'means for imparting the movement ofthe plunger to the detent.

9. An intermittent feeler mechanism for looms comprising, in combination, a feeler mounted to detect substantial exhaustion of the filling Within a shuttle, a detent for holding the feeler in a retracted position When the feeler is pushed frontwardly by a Working supply of filling, and means operableperiodically to release the feeler from the detent, comprising a plunger, a rocking lever having a limited swinging movement and engaging an end of said plunger, a protruding head provided upon a gear of the loom and positioned to engage and rock the lever in a direction to force the plunger inwardly,

and means for imparting the movement of the plunger to the detent.

10. An intermittent feeler mechanism for looms comprising, in combination, a feeler 'mounted to detect substantial exhaustion of the filling within a shuttle, a detent for holding the feeler in a retracted position when the feeler is pushed frontwardly by a Working supply of filling, and means operable periodically to release the feeler from the de-tent, comprising a plunger, a rocking lever that engages an end ofthe plunger, a protruding head provided upon a rotating element of the loom and positioned to engage and rock the lever to actuate the plune-er, and a sheath-enclosed Wire for imparting the movement of the plunger to the detent to release the feeler.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specificatlon.

EDWARD S. STIMPSON. 

